Graduate Success

Julie Noanoa

Self employed

“I’m a trained primary school teacher with extensive experience working in museums and art galleries. The desire to create unique education resources for learning has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so in 2012 I quit my job and enrolled to study Computer Graphic Design at Yoobee in Wellington. I wanted to gain some practical skills to be able to realise some of the ideas that I’d been thinking about during my teaching career. “The course taught me to be more observant, to critically analyse and appreciate design, all of which feeds into our own creativity. I also learnt the practical steps involved in the design process.

“Last year I had my first book, Maori Art for Kids, published! It’s an introduction to Maori art, with projects inspired by the work of 15 leading contemporary artists. After submitting the book’s proposal to a publisher I thought I’d be in for a long wait – but they called me a day later! Because I was able to design a draft layout of the concept and show how it might look, they were able to see what I was aiming for. I believe this was a vital key to success.

“I now have several other learning-related projects in varying stages of development. My goal is to continue creating quality learning resources that represent the uniqueness of New Zealand and the culture of the people that live here.” You can purchase Julie's book here